Lomonosov in Presidential Library’s collections: “He himself was our first university”

“The divine sign is vividly expressed in human genius, in their thoughts, speeches, and exploits: they stand so high above their contemporaries and are so little understood by them; they plan so far ahead, drawing new paths for the research and highlighting new horizons for posterity”, - Archpriest N. Bogolyubsky, professor of theology, said about Lomonosov marking the 200th anniversary of the scholar, widely celebrated in Russia more than a century ago.

November 19, 2018 marks the 307th birth anniversary of Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, an outstanding organizer of science and public education in Russia, an encyclopedic scholar, a poet who laid the foundations of the Russian literary language. The digital collection of the Presidential Library “M. V. Lomonosov (1711–1765)” includes studies, essays and archival materials on the life and work of the educator, his own works on the grammar of the Russian language, history and metallurgy, as well as part of his epistolary heritage.  

The enumeration of books of the “Lomonosov” collection tells how wide the research and academic outlook he possessed:

“The First Foundations of Metallurgy or Ore Affairs” (1763), “Essay on the Academic Activity of Lomonosov, read by Academician Ya. K. Grott in a solemn meeting of the Academy of Sciences on April 6, 1865” (1865), “The Catechism of a True Russian Man, compiled according to the views of Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Aksakov, Khomyakov and other best truly Russian writers” (1912), “Lomonosov and the Northern Sea Route” (1940). In recent years, thesis devoted to the analysis of the diverse works of Mikhail Vasilyevich have been added to this series, for example, “Lomonosov as a reformer of the Russian language” (2011) and others.  

B. Menshutkin in the book “Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov. Biography" (1911) traces the theme of the influence on the future scientist mores and customs of his native Pomor region. As you know, from early childhood to the age of 19, Mikhail went to sea with his experienced countrymen. “Economy of the region is heavy and dangerous”, - the author writes, - even when the northern seas are ice-free, they often have strong winds, storms, fogs, always have to be prepared not to be caught off guard and not lose their gear and ship”. In such conditions, Mikhail peeks by leaps and bounds, and by the hour, and in the future, "often used in his scholarly works gleaned in adolescence impressions, observations and inferences". 

Rare books from the Presidential Library’s collections tell about the originality, strength and ability to becoming of a young man who went to Moscow with two books under his arm. Being under the paternal shelter, Lomonosov learned to read Church Slavonic fluently; Zemsky and church clerks did not stop there and taught him to read and write in Russian. With such baggage, the 19-year-old Mikhail practically walked to Moscow and in 1731 was accepted into the Moscow Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. The measure of the talent of the Pomeranian self-taught person was revealed in the very first year, when he was twice transferred to a higher level of education. Already in 1735, on the recommendation of the Synod, Mikhail Lomonosov was among the best students sent to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and in 1736 - to Germany to study metallurgy, chemistry, and the sciences that were not studied in Russia. European professors closely followed his progress, noting a living mind and a thirst for knowledge.   

“All these dissertations are not only good”, - wrote the great mathematician Leonard Euler about the first scientific papers of Lomonosov, - but they are excellent, because he (Lomonosov) writes about matters of physical and chemical that are very necessary, which have not yet been known and could not be interpreted by the wittiest people that he perpetrated with such success that I am absolutely sure of the validity of his statements". The friendship between the two luminaries of science lasted until the end of Lomonosov’s life, in which a succession of brilliant victories, alas, was accompanied by envy of colleagues and attacks by the Western press.

An electronic copy of the book by Ya. Grott “Essay on the Academic Activity of Lomonosov” (1865) describes both scientific evidence and everyday troubles of the scientist: “From the very arrival from abroad, he was in extremely close circumstances, as his meager academic salary was delayed for several months and he, as he himself said, was not able to buy instruments and food”.

It is no wonder that somewhat later Catherine II, who was honored with two odes of Lomonosov, wrote to her state secretary A. Olsufyev: “Adam Vasilyevich, Lomonosov is poor; agree with the hetman, is it possible to give him a pension, and tell me the answer".

Of course, literature has taken a special place in the life of Lomonosov and the circle of his readers. Under a not quite ordinary perspective in the work “The Corinths of the Russian Word. Issue 1. Lomonosov" explores this topic N. Priluko-Prilutsky: "Not being a poet, Lomonosov takes up poetry, because this form of speech was more attractive for those whose convictions he had to act on.

Thus, at one time he presented an ode to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, expecting from her the solution of a number of problems on the organization of science in Russia lagging behind on this criterion from Europe. A completely pragmatic calculation was justified, which is evident from the electronic copy of A. Kizevetter’s Lomonosov book: “Shuvalov was a noble grandee and could always see the empress. He explained to the empress how important and necessary was everything that Lomonosov wrote about the first university in Moscow. When they opened the university, Lomonosov was very worried about freely admitting there, without distinction, the nobles, ordinary people, the merchants, and the peasants — anyone who wanted”.

Today, the Moscow State University is named after Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov.

“Russia knows him as a great citizen”, - writes N. Bogolyubsky in the above mentioned edition, - who gave all his genius and all his strength to his exploits and familiarization with world culture, who died with bright dreams of its future spiritual growth and greatness".